i'll show in numbers how truly stupid this is and why it's worth resisting.

suppose that this is the course marking breakdown:

final: 50%.
midterm: 20%
assignments: 10%
participation: 20%

if my marks are as follows:

final: 90%
midterm: 90%
assignments: 99% [for me, this is realistic]
participation: 0%

....then my grade is:

.5*.9 + .2*.9 + .1*.99 + .2*0=
.45 + .18 + .099 =
 0.729

so, you can get an A on the exam, an A on the midterm and ace the assignments....

...and end up with 73% in the class.

does that make sense to you?

it happened. over and over and over...

but, i'm still not going to participate. i'm just going to stand in the back and snicker at how stupid you all are.

a responsible professor would look at this outcome and change their grading strategy. they might think it's impossible, or something. when they see it in front of them, they should abandon it.